Business, infrastructure in downtown Zeeland continue to grow

Thursday

ZEELAND — Over the past five months, at least two new businesses have opened in downtown Zeeland.

Those businesses are the latest installment in an ongoing trend of growth.

Get-Togethers — an event center at 152 E. Main Ave. — opened in November. Owned by Bethany Harris, it's geared toward baby and bridal showers, among other celebrations.

“We’ve found there are so many more small to mid-size events than you might think,” Harris said. “Birthdays, work parties, milestone anniversaries.”

Harris has enjoyed owning a business in downtown Zeeland.

“Zeeland is just charming,” she said. “The downtown has a lot to offer, even though it’s not particularly big. There’s a good amount of variety and you can just feel the sense of community.”

When it comes to being part of that community, Harris appreciates when business owners work in tandem.

“I think there’s some collaboration happening,” she said. “I know it’s easy to get focused on doing your own thing, but when you make time to interact with fellow business owners, they tend to be very supportive of each other.”

In fact, Harris said, she would appreciate more structured time together.

“I know there’s a Zeeland Affinity Group with the West Coast Chamber,” she said. “And they meet regularly. But it might be nice to have more opportunities to get together and talk about what’s going on in the business community.”

Although Harris lives in Holland, she regularly spends her free time in Zeeland.

“Now that I’ve gotten to know the area more, we make trips to get a bite to eat or do a little bit of shopping,” she said. “We love being able to support the other business owners downtown and we do that as much as we can.”

A second new business — La Crême — opened in December after six weeks of renovation. The storefront was previously Fuzzy Peach, a frozen yogurt staple.

“Our contract with the franchise was coming to an end,” Kim De Young, who owns the restaurant with her husband, Scott, previously told The Sentinel. “So, we had an opportunity to do something totally different with the space.”

La Crême is a French-inspired restaurant with breakfast, lunch and dinner options. It features crepes, soups, yogurt bowls and baked goods.

From day one, the restaurant was crowded.

“The response has been amazing,” De Young said. “We got really slammed at the beginning, but everyone was really patient. We had a great day.”

Recent growth

The first strides toward significant growth in Zeeland began in 2009, when the first downtown vision plan was developed with assistance from hundreds of community members.

That plan led to the development of new public restrooms, a seasonal skating rink, a splash pad and green space — all of which has encouraged more traffic.

“That splash pad, in particular, brings in a lot of people,” said Anne Day, owner of Petcuts Grooming at 52 E. Main Ave. “That came in a couple of years ago and they expanded last year. It’s nice because it’s all fenced-in and enclosed, so you don’t have to worry.”

Day, who lives in Zeeland, has three children in the local school system.

“I love living here,” she said. “I wasn’t born and raised here, but I’ve been here for 10 years and it’s close enough to the highway and Holland. Everything is right here.”

As a downtown business owner of nearly five years, Day has noticed an uptick in visitors.

“There’s definitely more people coming to the area,” she said. “There’s more to offer. The addition of Tripelroot was huge, and now there’s La Crême.

“I have customers who come in and drop off their dogs and want to go have lunch or go shopping. A lot of people didn’t realize that we have a lot of shops and boutiques. There’s a lot more going on down here than there used to be, especially with all of our parades and festivals and events.”

Day added it would be nice to have more food options.

“Maybe a few more restaurants,” she said. “Like a sandwich shop or a smoothie place.”

A new plan

In the West Coast Chamber’s first Zeeland Affinity Group meeting of 2019, City Marketing Director Abby deRoo shared an updated downtown vision plan.

“We’re still tracking that same vision,” she said. “We created a steering committee that dug into the original plan and suggested updates. We used the opportunity to really identify things we’ve accomplished and projects we’re still working on. We also eliminated a few things that weren’t relevant anymore, and took the opportunity to add new projects that weren’t on our radar before.”

New priorities include the improvement of public passageways between Main Street and parking lots, redevelopment of the medical office building at Church Street and Cherry Street, conversion of the former Sligh Furniture building for community use, and improvement of the intersection of State and Main streets.

DeRoo emphasized these priorities cannot be completed by the city alone, but will require assistance from the private sector. For example, the former Sligh Furniture building and the medical office building are both owned by private parties.

“It’s the dreaming part of working downtown,” deRoo said. “They’re not projects that are scheduled or budgeted for yet — they’re still in the conceptual phase. And they’re very fluid opportunities. Some could be city-led, some could be led by private investors and a lot of them would be a collaborative effort.”

The City of Zeeland is also discussing the possibility of adding a total snowmelt system downtown, similar to the system in Holland.

“We’re excited about the possibility,” Kevin Plockmeyer, assistant city manager and finance director, said during a city council meeting on Monday, Jan. 21. “But it’s definitely just a feasibility study at this point.”

Cost estimates range from $875,000 to $8.2 million with varying amounts of snowmelt coverage in downtown, not including operation costs, permitting costs or related street reconstruction fees.

Zeeland currently operates two snowmelt systems around entrances to the Holland Miller Public Library and on Elm Street between Main Avenue and Cherry Street. They are powered by boilers in the library and city hall, respectively.

“We’re happy with the systems right now, which would warrant expanding them,” Plockmeyer said.

Overall, the goal is to create a multifaceted downtown atmosphere.

“The vision plan is meant to revitalize the heart of the community and encourage a downtown that is financially affordable and competitive, physically attractive, fun and energetic,” deRoo said.